M. David StoneDell P703w All-In-One Wireless Photo PrinterDesigned as a home printer with an emphasis on photos, the Dell P703w All-In-One Wireless Photo Printer prints photos at fast speeds and reasonably high quality.

Designed as a home printer with an emphasis on photos, the Dell P703w All-In-One Wireless Photo Printer prints photos at fast speeds and reasonably high quality.

It's no secret that Dell outsources its printer manufacturing, typically offering printers that are similar to specific models from other manufacturersoften with improvements. Most Dell inkjets, for example, are close cousins to Lexmark models. The Dell P703w All-In-One Wireless Photo Printer ($199 direct) is differentit's the first Dell model that's based on Kodak all-in-one (AIO) designs rather than Lexmark designs. That makes it radically different from all earlier Dell printers.

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The similarity to Kodak ESP models is unmistakable, in everything from the similar case to the screens in the driver to the ink system, with Kodak's instantly recognizable ink cartridges and printhead that you install during setup. Even the paper handling is the same, with a 100-sheet standard tray and a dedicated photo tray. The photo tray can hold up to 20 sheets of 4-by-6-inch photo paper, so you can switch between printing documents and small-format photos without having to swap paper in the tray.

The P703w is aimed primarily at home use, with an emphasis on photocentric features and a notable lack of features you'd want for a home office. It prints, scans, and copies, but it doesn't fax, and there's no automatic document feeder (ADF) for scanning multipage documents. It includes Wi-Fi, making it easy to share, and Dell says it will work with third-party Bluetooth adapters for printing from camera phones and other Bluetooth devices. The only wired connection it offers is USB.

Photocentric features include the ability to print from PictBridge cameras as well as memory cards, and USB keys, plus a 3-inch color LCD for previewing photos before printing. You can also scan directly to a memory card, but, oddly, not to a USB keyan unfortunate design choice. Scanning to a USB key would be much more useful for most people, since USB ports are available on virtually any computer. Memory card slots aren't.

Setting up the printer to connect by USB cable is standard fare. Find a spot for the 8.7-by-20.3-by-14.5-inch (HWD) printer, remove the packing materials, load paper, and install the print head and two ink cartridges. Then plug in the power cord and USB cable, and run the automated installation routine. I installed the printer under Windows XP; according to Dell, it also comes with drivers and a full set of software for Vista.

As already suggested, the ink system is the same as the one you'll find in Kodak AIOs, with a black cartridge and a color cartridge that includes cyan, yellow, magenta, a second black ink for photos, and a clear protective coating. The clear coat fills in the white space on photos to give an even gloss across the entire photo. It also improves durability.

Print speeds are a little slow for business applications, but fast for photos. I timed the P703w on our business applications suite at a total of 21 minutes 18 seconds (using QualityLogic's hardware and software for timing, www.qualitylogic.com). Not surprisingly, that's essentially tied with the Kodak ESP 3 All-In-One Printer, at 21:03. But it's a bit slower than the Editors' Choice HP Officejet J6480, at 17:44. Photo speed is much more impressive, averaging 1:02 for each 4-by-6 print on our tests and 1:51 for each 8-by-10. That's a close match to the ESP 3, once again, but far faster than the J6480's 2:42 and 6:19.

The P703w's output quality is within the typical range for inkjets, though at the lower end of the range across the board. More than half of the fonts on our text tests qualified as both easily readable and well formed at 6 points, with some qualifying at 5 points as well, and even one heavily stylized font with thick strokes passing both thresholds at 12 points. The output is no match for the crisp, professional look of a laser, particularly for small fonts, but it's certainly good enough for schoolwork or even printing most business documents at home to bring in to work.

Graphics were a half-step below par for an inkjetgood enough for schoolwork or most internal business use, but not what I'd want to hand to an important client or customer I was trying to impress with my professionalism. The two key issues were obvious banding in default mode and a dulled-down quality for colors on plain paper. In addition, full-page graphics made the plain paper we use curl, which means you may need to invest in a more expensive, heavier-weight paper.

Photos were a match for what you would expect from your local drugstore. The only flaw I saw that's worth mentioning was a slight tint in some shades of gray in a monochrome photo. The tint minor enough for most people to find it acceptable, however. The photos should also last. They were highly water resistant in my tests, and Dell claims lifetimes of 100 years in dark storage (as in an album), 125 years framed behind glass, 175 years behind UV glass, and 40 years exposed to air.

One big difference between the P703w and its Kodak cousins is the cost per page. Kodak makes a low running cost one of the key features for its entire line of AIOs, with a claimed 2.3 cents per monochrome page and 6.9 cents per color page. Dell doesn't even try to compete with Kodak on this score: The cost works out to 4.0 cents per monochrome page and 11.9 cents per color page, based on the claimed yields and prices of the cartridges.

Ultimately, the Dell P703w All-In-One Wireless Photo Printer offers an attractive combination of output quality, speed (especially for photos), features, and initial price, but the attractiveness drops when you factor in cost per page. The essential similarity between the Kodak and Dell printers, combined with the P703w's higher running cost, makes it hard to come up with a strong argument for buying the Dell P703w.

About the Author

M. David Stone is an award-winning freelance writer and computer industry consultant. Although a confirmed generalist, with writing credits on subjects as varied as ape language experiments, politics, quantum physics, and an overview of a top company in the gaming industry. David is also an expert in imaging technologies (including printers, moni... See Full Bio

Dell P703w All-In-One Wireless ...

Dell P703w All-In-One Wireless Photo Printer

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